Here is what Pacific say about the IF Bikes:
"Compared to other consumer products, folding bikes are an interesting challenge... right on the cusp of engineering/structural design and user-focused design - they have to work well, be easy to use while cool and appealing! ‘Folders’ are a keystone of future personal transport - making public travel effectively ‘door-to-door’. They are compact, portable ‘human-amplifiers’, while being pure fun to use.
In any survey, small wheel folders are only a tiny minority - most people choose large wheeled bikes. There are variety of reasons for this: tradition, perception of ease of pedaling, and emulating bikes used in sports. But the most important is probably image. So when we designed the iF series, we thought “what if we could combine the benefits of the latest small folders into a compact, full sized bike, with the design quality, innovation and
value people expect in other personal tools, such as iPods and mobile phones?”
The IF Mode is the first result of this thinking, combining large wheels with the benefits of near instant folding into a small, narrow, convenient package. Then, like modern luggage, it rolls everywhere on its main wheels. With monoblade wheel mountings, enclosed transmission and uncluttered design, it aims to attract new people towards using a bicycle as a useful form of transport. It adds all the benefits of cycling, and folding bicycles as an elegant product that even motorists will be proud to own and use.
The iF Urban and iF Reach offer the same benefits as the iF mode, but based on the latest trends in conventional bicycles: using the lightest and most highly developed wheels, gears and suspension systems. These bikes appeal to existing cycling enthusiasts as well as new riders. They make high performance cycling portable.
The original iF Mode prototype was a concept; it demonstrated the basic fold, structure and shape, but the engineering was not ready or optimised for production. It posed a difficult challenge, using engineering or automotive—rather than traditional bicycle making—techniques. Pacific put engineering and bicycle making skills to work, keeping in mind the vision to make something appealing to both enthusiasts and non-cycists.
Michael Lin and Ryan Carroll used leadingedge Solidworks 3D modeling software to create the iF Mode from scratch, with more than 240,000 steps in six months. Every single part, including chain and drivetrain were fully functional in this huge project. As a result of this effort the radical iF Mode went into production months, not years, later."